US20180281452A1 - Thermal head and thermal printer - Google Patents
Thermal head and thermal printer Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- US20180281452A1 US20180281452A1 US15/763,367 US201615763367A US2018281452A1 US 20180281452 A1 US20180281452 A1 US 20180281452A1 US 201615763367 A US201615763367 A US 201615763367A US 2018281452 A1 US2018281452 A1 US 2018281452A1
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- United States
- Prior art keywords
- cover member
- connection
- portions
- thermal head
- substrate
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
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Classifications
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/315—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by selective application of heat to a heat sensitive printing or impression-transfer material
- B41J2/32—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by selective application of heat to a heat sensitive printing or impression-transfer material using thermal heads
- B41J2/335—Structure of thermal heads
- B41J2/33505—Constructional details
- B41J2/3351—Electrode layers
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/315—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by selective application of heat to a heat sensitive printing or impression-transfer material
- B41J2/32—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by selective application of heat to a heat sensitive printing or impression-transfer material using thermal heads
- B41J2/335—Structure of thermal heads
- B41J2/33505—Constructional details
- B41J2/3352—Integrated circuits
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/315—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by selective application of heat to a heat sensitive printing or impression-transfer material
- B41J2/32—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by selective application of heat to a heat sensitive printing or impression-transfer material using thermal heads
- B41J2/335—Structure of thermal heads
- B41J2/33505—Constructional details
- B41J2/33515—Heater layers
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/315—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by selective application of heat to a heat sensitive printing or impression-transfer material
- B41J2/32—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by selective application of heat to a heat sensitive printing or impression-transfer material using thermal heads
- B41J2/335—Structure of thermal heads
- B41J2/33505—Constructional details
- B41J2/33525—Passivation layers
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/315—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by selective application of heat to a heat sensitive printing or impression-transfer material
- B41J2/32—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by selective application of heat to a heat sensitive printing or impression-transfer material using thermal heads
- B41J2/335—Structure of thermal heads
- B41J2/33505—Constructional details
- B41J2/3353—Protective layers
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/315—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by selective application of heat to a heat sensitive printing or impression-transfer material
- B41J2/32—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by selective application of heat to a heat sensitive printing or impression-transfer material using thermal heads
- B41J2/335—Structure of thermal heads
- B41J2/3354—Structure of thermal heads characterised by geometry
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/315—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by selective application of heat to a heat sensitive printing or impression-transfer material
- B41J2/32—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by selective application of heat to a heat sensitive printing or impression-transfer material using thermal heads
- B41J2/335—Structure of thermal heads
- B41J2/33555—Structure of thermal heads characterised by type
- B41J2/3357—Surface type resistors
Definitions
- the present invention relates to a thermal head and a thermal printer.
- thermal heads have been proposed as printing devices such as facsimiles or video printers.
- a thermal head including a substrate, a head base body including a plurality of heat generating sections disposed on the substrate, a connection member which connects the head base body to an outside via connection portions, and a first cover member covering the connection portions (for example, see Patent Literature 1).
- Patent Literature 1 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication JP-A 2004-148577
- a thermal head includes a head base body, a connection member, and a first cover member.
- the head base body includes a substrate and a plurality of heat generating sections disposed on the substrate.
- the connection member connects the head base body to an outside via connection portions.
- the first cover member covers the connection portions.
- the first cover member includes a plurality of protruding portions provided on an upper surface of the first cover member at predetermined intervals in a main scanning direction.
- a thermal head includes a head base body, a wiring substrate, a connection member, and a first cover member.
- the head base body includes a substrate and a plurality of heat generating sections disposed on the substrate.
- the wiring substrate is disposed so as to be adjacent to the head base body and is electrically connected thereto.
- the connection member connects the wiring substrate to an outside via connection portions.
- the first cover member covers the connection portions.
- the first cover member includes a plurality of protruding portions provided on an upper surface of the first cover member at predetermined intervals in a main scanning direction.
- a thermal printer includes: the thermal head mentioned above; a conveyance mechanism which conveys a recording medium on the heat generating sections; and a platen roller which presses a recording medium against a top of the heat generating sections.
- FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate a thermal head according to a first embodiment, wherein FIG. 1A is a plan view illustrating a schematic configuration, and FIG. 1B is an explanation view illustrating a cross section of the schematic configuration;
- FIG. 2 is a plan view illustrating the thermal head according to the first embodiment
- FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line illustrated in FIG. 2 ;
- FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV illustrated in FIG. 2 ;
- FIG. 5A is a view illustrating a schematic configuration of the thermal printer according to the first embodiment
- FIG. 5B is a view illustrating a conveyance state of a recording medium
- FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate a thermal head according to a second embodiment, wherein FIG. 6A is a plan view illustrating a schematic configuration, and FIG. 6B is an explanation view illustrating a cross section the schematic configuration;
- FIG. 7 is a sectional view illustrating a part of the thermal head according to the second embodiment.
- FIG. 8 is a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 4 and illustrating the thermal head according to the second embodiment
- FIG. 9 is a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 4 and illustrating a thermal head according to a third embodiment.
- FIG. 10 is a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 4 and illustrating a thermal head according to a fourth embodiment.
- FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate a schematic configuration of the thermal head X 1 .
- a heat generating section 9 and a connection portion 6 are indicated by a thick line, and a thermal storage layer 13 is not illustrated.
- a protective layer 25 , a second cover member 29 , a cover layer 27 , a flexible printed circuit 5 (hereinafter referred to as an FPC 5 ), and a connector 31 are indicated by one-dot chain lines, although not illustrated.
- a first cover member 12 is indicated by a plurality of dots.
- some of wiring conductors 5 b of the FPC 5 are selectively illustrated.
- the thermal head X 1 includes a heat dissipating plate 1 , a head base body 3 , the FPC 5 which is a connection member, and the first cover member 12 .
- the head base body 3 is placed on the heat dissipating plate 1 , and the FPC 5 is electrically connected.
- the head base body 3 and the FPC 5 are electrically connected to each other via a connection portion 6 .
- the first cover member 12 is provided on the head base body 3 and the FPC 5 so as to cover the connection portion 6 , and is formed to be long in a main scanning direction.
- the connector 31 is electrically connected to the FPC 5 , and thus the thermal head X 1 is electrically connected to the outside.
- the heat dissipating plate 1 is formed of, for example, a metal material such as copper, iron, or aluminum.
- the heat dissipating plate 1 functions to dissipate part of the heat the heat evolved in the heat generating section 9 of the head base body 3 which part is not conducive to printing.
- the heat dissipating plate 1 is formed in a rectangular shape in a plan view.
- the head base body 3 is bonded on the upper surface of the heat dissipating plate 1 by a double-sided tape, an adhesive, or the like (not illustrated).
- the head base body 3 is formed in a rectangular shape in a plan view. As illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B , the head base body 3 includes a substrate 7 , the heat generating section 9 , the protective layer 25 , the cover layer 27 , a driving IC (Integrated Circuit) 11 , the first cover member 12 , and the second cover member 29 . Each member constituting the thermal head X 1 is disposed on the substrate 7 .
- the head base body 3 has a function of performing printing on a recording medium (not illustrated) in accordance with an electric signal supplied from the outside.
- the protective layer 25 is formed to be long in the main scanning direction so as to cover the heat generating section 9 .
- the cover layer 27 is disposed on the substrate 7 to be long in the main scanning direction.
- the driving IC 11 is disposed on the substrate 7 exposed from the cover layer 27 .
- the plurality of driving ICs 11 are provided in the main scanning direction.
- the second cover member 29 covers the plurality of driving ICs 11 collectively. Therefore, the second cover member 29 is formed to be long in the main scanning direction.
- the head base body 3 and each member included in the FPC 5 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3 .
- the FPC 5 will be described as the connection member.
- the substrate 7 is disposed on the heat dissipating plate and is formed in a rectangular shape in a plan view. Therefore, the substrate 7 includes a first long side 7 a, a second long side 7 b, a first short side 7 c, and a second short side 7 d.
- the substrate 7 is formed of, for example, an electrically insulating material such as alumina ceramics or a semiconductor material such as a monocrystalline silicon.
- the thermal storage layer 13 is formed on the upper surface of the substrate 7 .
- the thermal storage layer 13 includes an underlying portion 13 a and a bulge portion 13 b.
- the underlying portion 13 a is formed across the left half of the upper surface of the substrate 7 .
- the bulge portion 13 b extends in a belt shape in the main scanning direction and has a cross section formed in a substantially semielliptical shape.
- the bulge portion 13 b has a function of pressing a recording medium P (see FIG. 5B ) to be printed satisfactorily against the protective layer 25 disposed on the heat generating section 9 .
- the thermal storage layer 13 is formed of glass with low thermal conductivity.
- the thermal storage layer 13 temporarily stores part of the heat generated by the heat generating section 9 . Thus, it is possible to shorten a time necessary to increase the temperature of the heat generating section 9 . Therefore, it is possible to improve a thermal responsive property of the thermal head X 1 .
- the thermal storage layer 13 can be formed, for example, by applying a predetermined glass paste obtained by mixing an appropriate organic solvent with glass powder to the upper surface of the substrate 7 using heretofore known screen printing or otherwise, and firing the applied glass paste at high temperature.
- An electrical resistance layer 15 is disposed on the upper surface of the thermal storage layer 13 .
- Terminals 2 , a common electrode 17 , discrete electrodes 19 , and connection electrodes 21 are disposed on the electrical resistance layer 15 .
- the electrical resistance layer 15 is patterned with the same shape as the terminals 2 , the common electrode 17 , the discrete electrodes 19 , and the connection electrodes 21 .
- the electrical resistance layer 15 has exposed regions in which the electrical resistance layer 15 is exposed from the various electrodes between the common electrode 17 and the discrete electrodes 19 . As illustrated in FIG. 2 , the exposed regions of the electrical resistance layer 15 are arranged in line on the bulge portion 13 b of the thermal storage layer 13 . Each exposed region of the electrical resistance layer 15 forms the heat generating section 9 .
- the electrical resistance layer 15 may not be patterned with the same shape as the terminals 2 , the common electrode 17 , the discrete electrodes 19 , and the connection electrodes 21 .
- the electrical resistance layer 15 may be disposed only between the common electrode 17 and the discrete electrodes 19 to form the heat generating section 9 .
- the heat generating section 9 while being illustrated in simplified form in FIGS. 1A and 1B for convenience in explanation, is arranged at a density of 100 dpi (dot per inch) to 2400 dpi, for example.
- the electrical resistance layer 15 is formed of a material having a relatively high electrical resistance value such for example as a TaN-based material, a TaSiO-based material, a TaSiNO-based material, a TiSiO-based material, a TiSiCO-based material, or a NbSiO-based material.
- a material having a relatively high electrical resistance value such for example as a TaN-based material, a TaSiO-based material, a TaSiNO-based material, a TiSiO-based material, a TiSiCO-based material, or a NbSiO-based material.
- the common electrode 17 , the discrete electrodes 19 , and the connection electrodes 21 are disposed on the upper surface of the electrical resistance layer 15 .
- the common electrode 17 , the discrete electrodes 19 , and the connection electrodes 21 are formed of a material with conductivity.
- these electrodes are formed of one of metal of aluminum, gold, silver, and copper or an alloy thereof.
- the common electrode 17 includes main wiring portions 17 a, sub wiring portions 17 b, and lead portions 17 c.
- the main wiring portion 17 a extends along a first long side 7 a of the substrate 7 .
- Two sub wiring portions 17 b extend along a first short side 7 c and a second short side 7 d of the substrate 7 .
- the plurality of lead portions 17 c individually extend from the main wiring portion 17 a to each heat generating section 9 .
- the common electrode 17 includes the terminals 2 connected to external terminals 4 on the side of a second long side 7 b of the substrate 7 .
- the plurality of discrete electrodes 19 electrically connect the heat generating sections 9 to the driving ICs 11 .
- the plurality of heat generating sections 9 are divided into a plurality of groups, and thus the heat generating sections 9 of each group are electrically connected to the driving IC 11 provided to correspond to each group.
- connection electrodes 21 electrically connect the driving ICs 11 to the connector 31 .
- the plurality of connection electrodes 21 connected to each driving IC 11 are constituted by a plurality of wirings with different functions.
- the connection electrode 21 includes the terminal 2 connected to the connection portion 6 on the side of the second long side 7 b of the substrate 7 .
- the terminal 2 is provided in the common electrode 17 and the connection electrode 21 to connect the head base body 3 to the FPC 5 , and is disposed on the side of the second long side 7 b of the substrate 7 .
- the terminal 2 is formed by a part of the common electrode 17 and a part of the connection electrode 21 .
- the electrical resistance layer 15 , the common electrode 17 , the discrete electrodes 19 , and the connection electrodes 21 can be formed in accordance with, for example, the following method.
- respective material layers are sequentially stacked on the thermal storage layer 13 by, for example, a heretofore known thin film forming technology such as a sputtering method.
- the material layers are formed by processing a stacked body in a predetermined pattern using a heretofore known photoetching or otherwise.
- the electrical resistance layer 15 , the common electrode 17 , the discrete electrodes 19 , and the connection electrodes 21 can be simultaneously formed through the same processes.
- the protective layer 25 covering the heat generating sections 9 , a part of the common electrode 17 , and parts of the discrete electrodes 19 is formed on the thermal storage layer 13 formed on the upper surface of the substrate 7 .
- the protective layer 25 protects the heat generating section 9 and the covered areas of the common electrode 17 and the discrete electrode 19 against corrosion caused by adhesion of atmospheric water content, etc., or against wear caused by contact with a recording medium under printing.
- the protective layer 25 may be formed of an inorganic material such as SiN, SiO 2 , SiON, SiC, or diamond-like carbon.
- the protective layer 25 may be formed of a single layer or may be formed by stacking such layers.
- the protective layer 25 may be produced by thin-film forming technique such as sputtering, or thick-film forming technique such as screen printing.
- a cover layer 27 which partly covers the common electrode 17 , the discrete electrode 19 , and the connection electrode 21 .
- the cover layer 27 protects the covered areas of the common electrode 17 , the discrete electrode 19 , the IC-IC connection electrode 26 , and the connection electrode 21 against oxidation caused by exposure to air.
- the cover layer 27 serves to protect the various electrodes against corrosion caused due to adherence of moisture contained in the air.
- the driving ICs 11 are disposed to correspond to each group of the plurality of heat generating sections 9 .
- the driving ICs 11 connect the discrete electrodes 19 to the connection electrodes 21 .
- the plurality of driving ICs 11 are provided at predetermined intervals in the main scanning direction. The predetermined intervals are, for example, about 1 mm to 20 mm.
- the driving IC 11 has a function of controlling a conductive state of each heat generating section 9 .
- As the driving IC 11 for example, a switching member containing a plurality of switching elements is used.
- the driving ICs 11 are sealed by the second cover member 29 .
- the second cover member 29 is formed astride the plurality of driving ICs 11 to extend in the main scanning direction.
- the second cover member 29 covers the driving ICs 11 so that the driving ICs 11 are not exposed.
- the second cover member 29 also covers connection regions of the driving ICs 11 and the wirings.
- the second cover member 29 can be formed of, for example, a thermosetting resin such as an epoxy resin or a silicone resin.
- the second cover member 29 can be formed using an ultraviolet-curable resin, a visible light-curable resin, or the like.
- the FPC 5 includes a base member 5 a, a plurality of wiring conductors 5 b, and a cover member 5 c.
- the base member 5 a is formed in a rectangular shape in a plan view, and thus has the external shape as the FPC 5 .
- the plurality of wiring conductors 5 b are disposed on the base member 5 a and are provided at predetermined intervals in the main scanning direction.
- An external terminal 4 electrically connected to the terminal 2 is disposed at an end of each of the plurality of wiring conductors 5 b. Therefore, the plurality of external terminals 4 are provided apart from each other at the predetermined intervals in the main scanning direction.
- the cover member 5 c is formed on the base member 5 a to cover the wiring conductors 5 b.
- the cover member 5 c is partially notched so that the external terminals 4 are exposed.
- the wiring conductors 5 b and the external terminals 4 may be formed of the same material to be integrated. In this case, portions of the wiring conductors 5 b exposed from the cover member 5 c serve as the external terminals 4 .
- the connector 31 is electrically connected to the wiring conductors 5 b, sockets are inserted into the housing of the connector 31 from the outside, and the thermal head X 1 is electrically connected to the outside.
- a conductive member 23 is disposed between the terminal 2 and the external terminal 4 .
- the conductive member 23 electrically connects the terminal 2 to the external terminal 4 .
- Examples of the conductive member 23 include, for example, solder or an anisotropic conducting adhesive. In the embodiment, the case where solder is used is described.
- a plated layer (not illustrated) formed of Ni, Au, or Pd may be disposed between the conductive member 23 and the terminal 2 .
- connection portion 6 is a portion which electrically connects the head base body 3 to the FPC 5 (connection member). Therefore, in the first embodiment, the connection portion 6 means the conductive member 23 .
- connection region is a region between the external terminal 4 located on the farthest side of the first short side 7 c of the substrate 7 and the external terminal 4 located on the farthest side of the second short side 7 d of the substrate 7 in a plan view.
- the first cover member 12 serves to protect the connection region. Therefore, the first cover member 12 is disposed on the head base body 3 and the FPC 5 to extend in the main scanning direction. That is, the first cover member 12 extends from the connection region of the FPC 5 to the head base body 3 adjacent to the connection region in a sub-scanning direction.
- the first cover member 12 can be formed of a thermosetting resin such as an epoxy resin or a silicone resin as in the second cover member 29 .
- the first cover member 12 can be formed of an ultraviolet-curable resin, a visible light-curable resin, or the like.
- the first cover member 12 and the FPC 5 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 4 .
- the recording medium P being conveyed is schematically indicated by a black line.
- the first cover member 12 includes a plurality of protruding portions 12 a provided at predetermined intervals in the main scanning direction.
- the first cover member 12 includes a plurality of recessed portions 12 b provided at predetermined intervals in the main scanning direction.
- the plurality of protruding portions 12 a and the plurality of recessed portions 12 b are provided on the upper surface of the first cover member 12 .
- the plurality of protruding portions 12 a and the plurality of recessed portions 12 b are alternately formed.
- the plurality of protruding portions 12 a and the plurality of recessed portions 12 b are provided above the connection region.
- An interval between the adjacent protruding portions 12 a is, for example, 50 to 200 ⁇ m.
- An interval between the adjacent recessed portions 12 b is, for example, 50 to 200 ⁇ m.
- the interval between the adjacent protruding portions 12 a indicates a distance between portions located highest among the protruding portions 12 a in the main scanning direction. The same applies to the interval between the adjacent recessed portions 12 b.
- a difference between the heights of the protruding portions 12 a and the recessed portions 12 b can be set to, for example, 20 to 40 ⁇ m.
- the difference between the heights of the protruding portions 12 a and the recessed portions 12 b can be measured by observing a surface state of the first cover member 12 with, for example, a contactless laser microscope.
- the first cover member 12 is configured to be contactable with the recording medium P. In other words, the first cover member 12 may come into contact with the recording medium P depending on a conveyance situation of the recording medium P in some cases.
- the base member 5 a of the FPC 5 includes a first surface 5 c located on the substrate side and a second surface 5 d located opposite to the first surface 5 c. On the first surface 5 c, the wiring conductors 5 b is formed, and the external terminals 4 are provided.
- the base member 5 a includes a depression portion 14 in a region in which the external terminal 4 is not provided.
- the depression portion 14 is depressed from a first surface 5 c toward a second surface 5 d in a region in which the external terminal 4 is provided.
- the depression portion 14 is formed in the region of the first surface 5 c in which the external terminal 4 is not provided. In other words, the depression portion 14 is formed between the external terminals 4 . Therefore, the plurality of depression portions 14 are provided at predetermined intervals in the main scanning direction.
- the second surface 5 d corresponding to the depression portion 14 protrudes upwardly.
- the plurality of depression portions 14 are provided at the predetermined intervals in the main scanning direction, and thus the second surface 5 d includes protruding portions provided at the predetermined intervals in the main scanning direction.
- a depth of the depression portion 14 from the first surface 5 c of the region in which the external terminal 4 is provided (a length in a thickness direction of the substrate 7 ) can be set to be, for example, 20 to 40 ⁇ m.
- the depth of the depression portion 14 from the first surface 5 c of the region in which the external terminal 4 is provided can be obtained, for example, by cutting the thermal head X 1 in the vertical direction as in FIG. 4 and observing the cross-sectional surface of the FPC 5 .
- the upper surface of the first cover member is flat, and thus the recording medium comes into surface contact with the first cover member.
- friction between the recording medium and the first cover member may increase, the recording medium is caught, and thus there is a concern that the recording medium is wrinkled.
- the first cover member 12 includes the plurality of protruding portions 12 a provided on the upper surface at the predetermined intervals in the main scanning direction. Therefore, even when the first cover member 12 comes into contact with the recording medium P, the recording medium P comes into contact with the protruding portions 12 a, but is less likely to come into contact with the recessed portions 12 b between the protruding portions 12 a. Thus, the recording medium P comes into point contact with the first cover member 12 . Therefore, the friction between the recording medium P and the first cover member 12 does not increase and the recording medium P is less likely to be caught. As a result, the recording medium is less likely to be wrinkled.
- the thermal head X 1 in which a glossy sheet is used as the recording medium P is useful because of the following reasons.
- a glossy sheet has strong resilience as the recording medium P and the recording medium P is further less likely to come into contact the recessed portions 12 b.
- the recording medium P comes into point contact with the first cover member 12 , and thus it is possible to reduce a possibility that the recording medium P is wrinkled and paper jamming occurs.
- the first cover member 12 can be formed of an epoxy-based resin.
- static electricity charged to the recording medium P is discharged to, for example, the heat dissipating plate 1 through the first cover member 12 .
- the static electricity is less likely to be discharged to the heat generating section 9 .
- the thermal head X 1 is less likely to be damaged.
- the protruding portions 12 a are provided on a part of the upper surface of the first cover member 12 which part is located above the connection region. Thus, it is possible to reduce noise caused due to an electric signal flowing in the connection portion 6 .
- the surface area of the upper surface can be set to be greater than the surface area of the flat upper surface.
- the second cover member 29 is provided between the heat generating section 9 and the first cover member 12 in a plan view.
- the first cover member 12 , the second cover member 29 , and the heat generating section 9 are disposed in this order when viewed in a conveying direction of the recording medium P.
- the recording medium P comes into contact with the protruding portions 12 a of the first cover member 12 and subsequently comes into contact with the second cover member 29 after electricity is removed.
- static electricity is discharged to the second cover member 29 , and thus the driving IC 11 is less likely to be damaged.
- the protruding portions 12 a are disposed at positions corresponding to the depression portions 14 of the second surface 5 d. Therefore, even when the recording medium P is excessively pressed against a platen roller 50 (see FIG. 5A ), the depression portions 14 can be deformed and the protruding portions 12 a can be displaced downwards. Therefore, the depression portions 14 can alleviate stress concentrated on the protruding portions 12 a. As a result, damage such as crack is less likely to occur in the first cover member 12 .
- the recording medium P can be conveyed by various rollers, as illustrated in FIG. 5A . Therefore, there is a concern that the recording medium P is at a high temperature due to friction heat generated between the recording medium P and the various rollers.
- the thermal head X 1 space is provided between the depression portion 14 and the substrate 7 .
- a heat insulating layer is formed between the protruding portions 12 a and the substrate 7 and between the depression portions 14 and the substrate 7 , and the heat of the recording medium P is less likely to be transferred to the substrate 7 .
- the first cover member 12 includes the recessed portions 12 b between the protruding portions 12 a, and the recessed portions 12 b are disposed on the terminal 2 .
- the protruding portion 12 a coming into contact with the recording medium P is not disposed on the terminal 2 . Therefore, even when static electricity charged to the recording medium P is discharged to the first cover member 12 , the static electricity is discharged to the protruding portion 12 a located closely. Therefore, it is possible to reduce a possibility of the static electricity discharged to the terminal 2 . As a result, the terminal 2 is less likely to be destroyed by the static electricity.
- the thermal head X 1 can be manufactured according to the following method, for example.
- the external terminals 4 of the FPC 5 are electrically connected to the terminals 2 of the head base body 3 via the conductive members 23 . Subsequently, the conductive members 23 are reflowed to electrically connect the terminals 2 of the head base body 3 to the external terminals 4 of the FPC 5 .
- the first cover member 12 is applied with a constant thickness using a dispenser or the like so that the connection portions 6 are sealed, and is cured.
- the first cover member 12 is applied again by the dispenser in portions in which the protruding portions 12 a are formed, and is dried.
- the protruding portions 12 a can be formed on the upper surface of the first cover member 12 .
- a pressing plate with an uneven surface may be pressed against an applied surface to form the protruding portions 12 a.
- the protruding portions 12 a and the recessed portions 12 b may be formed on an upper surface of the first cover member 12 other than the connection region.
- thermal printer Z 1 Next, a thermal printer Z 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 5A and 5B .
- the thermal printer Z 1 includes the above-described thermal head X 1 , a conveyance mechanism 40 , a platen roller 50 , a power supply device 60 , and a control unit 70 .
- the thermal head X 1 is mounted on a mounting surface 80 a of a mounting member 80 provided in a housing (not illustrated) of the thermal printer Z 1 .
- the thermal head X 1 is mounted in the mounting member 80 so that the arrangement direction of the heat generating sections 9 follows the main scanning direction which is a direction perpendicular to a conveying direction S of the recording medium P to be described below.
- the conveyance mechanism 40 comprises a driving section (not shown) and conveying rollers 43 , 45 , 47 and 49 .
- the conveyance mechanism 40 serves to convey the recording medium P such as thermal paper or ink-transferable image-receiving paper, in a direction indicated by the arrow S shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B so as to move the recording medium P onto the protective layer 25 located on the plurality of heat generating sections 9 of the thermal head X 1 .
- the driving section functions to drive the conveying rollers 43 , 45 , 47 and 49 , and, for example, a motor may be used for the driving section.
- the conveying roller 43 , 45 , 47 , 49 is composed of a cylindrical shaft body 43 a, 45 a, 47 a, 49 a formed of metal such as stainless steel covered with an elastic member 43 b, 45 b, 47 b, 49 b formed of butadiene rubber, for example.
- the recording medium P is conveyed together with an ink film which lies between the recording medium P and the heat generating section 9 of the thermal head X 1 .
- the platen roller 50 functions to press the recording medium P against the top of the protective layer 25 located on the heat generating section 9 of the thermal head X 1 .
- the platen roller 50 is disposed so as to extend along a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction S of the recording medium P, and is fixedly supported at ends thereof so as to be rotatable while pressing the recording medium P against the top of the heat generating section 9 .
- the platen roller 50 may be composed of a cylindrical shaft body 50 a formed of metal such as stainless steel covered with an elastic member 50 b formed of butadiene rubber, for example.
- the power supply device 60 functions to supply electric current for enabling the heat generating section 9 of the thermal head X 1 to generate heat as described above, as well as electric current for operating the driving IC 11 .
- the control unit 70 functions to feed a control signal for controlling the operation of the driving IC 11 to the driving IC 11 in order to cause the heat generating sections 9 of the thermal head X 1 to selectively generate heat as described above.
- the second cover member 29 is disposed upstream in the conveying direction S from the first cover member 12 .
- predetermined printing is performed on the recording medium P when the power supply device 60 and the control device 70 causes the heat generating sections 9 to selectively generate heat while causing the platen roller 50 to press the recording medium P against a top of the heat generating sections 9 of the thermal head X 1 and causing the conveyance mechanism 40 to convey the recording medium P onto the heat generating sections 9 so that the recording medium P sequentially comes into contact with the first cover member 12 and the second cover member 29 .
- the recording medium P is an image-receiving sheet
- the printing is performed on the recording medium P by thermally transferring ink of an ink film (not illustrated) conveyed along with the recording medium P to the recording medium P.
- a thermal head X 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. 6A to 8 .
- the same reference numerals are given to the same members as those of the first embodiment.
- the heat generating section 9 , connector pins 8 , and wires 16 are indicated by thick lines.
- the thermal head X 2 includes a heat dissipating plate 1 , a head base body 203 , a wiring substrate 18 , a connector 231 which is a connection member, and a first cover member 212 .
- the head base body 203 and the wiring substrate 18 are placed on the heat dissipating plate 1 .
- the connector 231 is electrically connected to the wiring substrate 18 .
- the connector 231 will be described as the connection member.
- the plurality of driving ICs 11 are disposed on the wiring substrate 18 and the wires 16 disposed on the upper surface of the driving ICs 11 electrically connect the head base body 203 to the wiring substrate 18 .
- a second cover member 229 is configured to cover the plurality of driving ICs 11 .
- the second cover member 229 is formed to be long in the main scanning direction.
- the connector 231 includes the connector pins 8 and a housing 10 .
- the connector pins 8 are electrically connected to the wiring substrate 18 .
- the housing 10 accommodates the connector pins 8 .
- the sockets are inserted into the housing 10 from the outside so that the head base body 203 is electrically connected to the outside.
- the first cover member 212 is provided on the wiring substrate 18 and the housing 10 so as to cover a connection portions 206 .
- the wiring substrate 18 , the connector 231 , and the first cover member 212 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8 .
- the wiring substrate 18 is placed on the upper surface of the heat dissipating plate 1 to be adjacent to the head base body 203 .
- the wiring substrate 18 includes a base member 18 a and a wiring conductor 18 b.
- the driving ICs 11 and the wires 16 are disposed on the wiring substrate 18 .
- the base member 18 a is formed in a rectangular shape in a plan view and has substantially the same shape as the wiring substrate 18 .
- the wiring conductor 18 b is provided in the base member 18 a and is patterned in a planar direction, although not illustrated.
- the wiring conductor 18 b includes the terminal 2 electrically connected to a connection portion 206 on the side of the connector 231 .
- the terminals 2 are provided at predetermined intervals in the main scanning direction.
- the driving IC 11 is placed in a region in which the wiring conductor 18 b is not provided on the base member 18 a.
- One pair of wires 16 is extracted from the upper surface of the driving IC 11 , and includes a first wire 16 and a second wire 16 .
- the first wire 16 is electrically connected to the connection electrode 21 of the head base body 3 .
- the second wire 16 is electrically connected to the wiring conductor 18 b of the wiring substrate 18 .
- the housing 10 is disposed at intervals from the side surface of the wiring substrate 18 .
- Each of the plurality of connector pins 8 includes a first end 8 a and a second end 8 b.
- the first end 8 a is exposed to the outside of the housing 10 and is electrically connected to the terminal 2 . That is, the first end 8 a functions as the external terminal 4 of the connector (connection member) 231 .
- the second end 8 b is accommodated inside the housing 10 .
- the connector pins 8 have electrical conductivity and can be formed of metal or an alloy.
- the housing 10 can be formed of an insulating member.
- the first end 8 a is electrically connected to the terminal 2 of the wiring substrate 18 via the conductive member 23 . Therefore, in the second embodiment, the connection portion 206 is constituted by the conductive member 23 .
- the first cover member 212 is provided to protect the connection region and is provided to cover the terminals 2 , the conductive members 23 , and the first ends 8 a.
- the first cover member 212 is provided over the entire region of the terminals 2 , the conductive members 23 , and the first ends 8 a. Therefore, the first cover member 212 seals the terminals 2 , the conductive members 23 , and the first ends 8 a.
- a part of the first cover member 212 is disposed on the housing 10 of the second cover member 29 .
- the first cover member 212 includes a plurality of protruding portions 212 a provided at predetermined intervals in the main scanning direction.
- the first cover member 212 includes a plurality of recessed portions 212 b provided at predetermined intervals in the main scanning direction.
- the plurality of protruding portions 212 a and the plurality of recessed portions 212 b are provided on the upper surface of the first cover member 212 .
- the plurality of protruding portions 212 a and the plurality of recessed portions 212 b are alternately provided in the main scanning direction.
- the plurality of protruding portions 212 a and the plurality of recessed portions 212 b are formed above the connection region.
- An interval between the mutually adjacent protruding portions 212 a is, for example, 1 to 5 mm.
- An interval between the adjacent recessed portions 212 b is, for example, 1 to 5 mm.
- a difference between the heights of the protruding portions 212 a and the recessed portions 212 b can be set to, for example, 50 to 200 ⁇ m.
- the difference between the heights of the protruding portions 212 a and the recessed portions 212 b can be measured by observing a surface state of the first cover member 212 with, for example, a contactless laser microscope.
- the first cover member 212 is configured to be contactable with the recording medium P. That is, the recording medium P comes into contact with the first cover member 212 , and subsequently comes into contact with the protective film 25 (see FIG. 3 ) on the heat generating sections 9 so that printing is performed.
- the first cover member 212 includes the protruding portions 212 a provided at the predetermined intervals in the main scanning direction on the upper surface.
- the recording medium P comes into contact with the protruding portions 212 a and is less likely to come into contact with the recessed portions 212 b located between the protruding portions 212 a. Therefore, the recording medium P comes into point contact with the first cover member 212 . Therefore, the friction between the recording medium P and the first cover member 212 does not increase and the recording medium P is less likely to be caught. As a result, the recording medium is less likely to be wrinkled.
- the plurality of protruding portions 212 a are provided at positions corresponding to the plurality of connector pins 8 , respectively.
- the protruding portions 212 a of the first cover member 212 can be supported by the connector pins 8 , and the first cover member 212 can stably convey the recording medium P.
- the first cover member 212 is disposed to surround the connection portions 206 .
- mechanical connection of the connection portions 206 can be stabilized.
- a thermal head X 3 will be described with reference to FIG. 9 .
- the thermal head X 3 is different from the thermal head X 1 in the configuration of a first cover member 312 .
- the other configuration is the same as the thermal head X 1 and the description thereof will be omitted.
- the first cover member 312 includes a plurality of protruding portions 312 a, a plurality of recessed portions 312 b , and an infiltration portion 312 c.
- the plurality of protruding portions 312 a and the plurality of recessed portions 312 b are provided on the upper surface of the first cover member 312 .
- the infiltration portion 312 c is disposed in a portion of the first cover member 312 located between the FPC 5 and the substrate 7 .
- the infiltration portion 312 c is filled between the FPC 5 and the substrate 7 .
- the infiltration portion 312 c penetrates between the FPC 5 and the substrate 7 , and thus an end of the FPC 5 located on the substrate 7 is sandwiched by the first cover member 312 .
- the first cover member 312 is disposed over the entire region around the end of the FPC 5 located on the substrate 7 .
- the end of the FPC 5 located on the substrate 7 is less likely to be separated. Therefore, the FPC 5 is less likely to be separated from the head base body 3 .
- the infiltration portion 312 c is filled between the FPC 5 and the substrate 7 , the first cover member 312 is disposed around the conductive members 23 . Therefore, the infiltration portion 312 c can protect the conductive members 23 . As a result, the electric connection between the head base body 3 and the FPC 5 can be stabilized.
- a thermal head X 4 will be described with reference to FIG. 10 .
- the thermal head X 4 is different from the thermal head X 3 in the configuration of a first cover member 412 .
- the other configuration is the same as the thermal head X 3 and the description thereof will be omitted.
- the first cover member 412 includes a protruding portion 412 a, a recessed portion 412 b, and an infiltration portion 412 c .
- the infiltration portion 412 c is provided on the side of the FPC 5 without being filled between the FPC 5 and the substrate 7 . In other words, a space is provided between the infiltration portion 412 c and the substrate 7 . Therefore, a part of the conductive member 23 is provided to be exposed from the infiltration portion 412 c. Then, the conductive member 23 is formed by solder.
- an inflow amount of the infiltration portion 412 c can be reduced and a pressing force applied from the infiltration portion 412 c can be reduced.
- the conductive member 23 is less likely to come into contact with the adjacent conductive member 23 , and thus short-circuiting is less likely to occur in the thermal head X 4 .
- the infiltration portion 412 c includes a portion located between the connection portions 6 . Then, in the infiltration portion 412 c, a surface of the portion located between the connection portions 6 on the side of the substrate 7 protrudes upwardly. More specifically, the surface of the infiltration portion 412 c located between the conductive members 23 on the side of the substrate 7 has an upward protruding shape in a sectional view. Therefore, the infiltration portion 412 c is easily deformed by a pressing force from above. Therefore, the infiltration portion 412 c can disperse the pressing force from above.
- the infiltration portion 412 c when the infiltration portion 412 c is located below the protruding portion 412 a, the infiltration portion 412 c can further disperse the pressing force from above. That is, the protruding portions 412 a are configured to come into contact with the recording medium P, and thus a pressing force is applied to the protruding portions 412 a downwards. On the other hand, the infiltration portion 412 c serves to disperse the pressing force, and the first cover member 412 is less likely to be damaged by the pressing force.
- thermal printer Z 1 employing the thermal head X 1 according to the first embodiment has been shown herein, it is not intended to be limiting of the invention, and thus, any of the thermal heads X 2 to X 4 may be adopted for use in the thermal printer Z 1 .
- thermal heads X 1 to X 4 according to a plurality of embodiments may be used in combination.
- the bulge portion 13 b is formed in the thermal storage layer 13 and the electrical resistance layer 15 is formed on the bulge portion 13 b, but the invention is not limited to this.
- the bulge portion 13 b may not be formed in the thermal storage layer 13 and the heat generating section 9 of the electrical resistance layer 15 may be disposed on the underlying portion 13 a of the thermal storage layer 13 .
- the thermal storage layer 13 may be provided across the upper surface of the substrate 7 .
- the common electrode 17 and the discrete electrode 19 are formed on the electrical resistance layer 15 , but the invention is not limited to this as long as both the common electrode 17 and the discrete electrode 19 are connected to the heat generating section 9 (electric resistor).
- the heat generating section 9 may be constituted by forming the common electrode 17 and the discrete electrode 19 on the thermal storage layer 13 and forming the electrical resistance layer 15 only in a region between the common electrode 17 and the discrete electrode 19 .
- the thin-film head having the thin heat generating section 9 obtained by forming the electrical resistance layer 15 in thin-film form has been described as exemplification, the invention is not limited to this.
- the invention may be embodied as a thick-film head having a thick heat generating section 9 by patterning various electrodes and subsequently forming the electrical resistance layer 15 in thick-film form.
- the present technology may be embodied as an edge-type head in which the heat generating section 9 is disposed on an end face of the substrate.
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Abstract
Description
- The present invention relates to a thermal head and a thermal printer.
- In the related art, various thermal heads have been proposed as printing devices such as facsimiles or video printers. For example, there is known a thermal head including a substrate, a head base body including a plurality of heat generating sections disposed on the substrate, a connection member which connects the head base body to an outside via connection portions, and a first cover member covering the connection portions (for example, see Patent Literature 1).
- Patent Literature 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication JP-A 2004-148577
- A thermal head according to the present disclosure includes a head base body, a connection member, and a first cover member. The head base body includes a substrate and a plurality of heat generating sections disposed on the substrate. The connection member connects the head base body to an outside via connection portions. The first cover member covers the connection portions. The first cover member includes a plurality of protruding portions provided on an upper surface of the first cover member at predetermined intervals in a main scanning direction.
- A thermal head according to the present disclosure includes a head base body, a wiring substrate, a connection member, and a first cover member. The head base body includes a substrate and a plurality of heat generating sections disposed on the substrate. The wiring substrate is disposed so as to be adjacent to the head base body and is electrically connected thereto. The connection member connects the wiring substrate to an outside via connection portions. The first cover member covers the connection portions. The first cover member includes a plurality of protruding portions provided on an upper surface of the first cover member at predetermined intervals in a main scanning direction.
- A thermal printer according to the present disclosure includes: the thermal head mentioned above; a conveyance mechanism which conveys a recording medium on the heat generating sections; and a platen roller which presses a recording medium against a top of the heat generating sections.
-
FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate a thermal head according to a first embodiment, whereinFIG. 1A is a plan view illustrating a schematic configuration, andFIG. 1B is an explanation view illustrating a cross section of the schematic configuration; -
FIG. 2 is a plan view illustrating the thermal head according to the first embodiment; -
FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line illustrated inFIG. 2 ; -
FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV illustrated inFIG. 2 ; -
FIG. 5A is a view illustrating a schematic configuration of the thermal printer according to the first embodiment, andFIG. 5B is a view illustrating a conveyance state of a recording medium; -
FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate a thermal head according to a second embodiment, whereinFIG. 6A is a plan view illustrating a schematic configuration, andFIG. 6B is an explanation view illustrating a cross section the schematic configuration; -
FIG. 7 is a sectional view illustrating a part of the thermal head according to the second embodiment; -
FIG. 8 is a sectional view corresponding toFIG. 4 and illustrating the thermal head according to the second embodiment; -
FIG. 9 is a sectional view corresponding toFIG. 4 and illustrating a thermal head according to a third embodiment; and -
FIG. 10 is a sectional view corresponding toFIG. 4 and illustrating a thermal head according to a fourth embodiment. - Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings. The drawings to be described below are schematic, and dimensions, scales, and the like in the drawings do not necessarily match actual dimensions, scales, and the like. Even in the plurality of drawings illustrating the same members, dimensions, scales, and the like do not match each other to exaggerate the shapes or the like in some cases.
- Hereinafter, a thermal head X1 will be described with reference to
FIGS. 1A to 4 .FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate a schematic configuration of the thermal head X1. Aheat generating section 9 and aconnection portion 6 are indicated by a thick line, and athermal storage layer 13 is not illustrated. InFIG. 2 , aprotective layer 25, asecond cover member 29, acover layer 27, a flexible printed circuit 5 (hereinafter referred to as an FPC 5), and aconnector 31 are indicated by one-dot chain lines, although not illustrated. InFIG. 2 , afirst cover member 12 is indicated by a plurality of dots. InFIG. 2 , some ofwiring conductors 5 b of the FPC 5 are selectively illustrated. - The thermal head X1 includes a
heat dissipating plate 1, ahead base body 3, the FPC 5 which is a connection member, and thefirst cover member 12. Thehead base body 3 is placed on theheat dissipating plate 1, and the FPC 5 is electrically connected. Thehead base body 3 and the FPC 5 are electrically connected to each other via aconnection portion 6. Thefirst cover member 12 is provided on thehead base body 3 and the FPC 5 so as to cover theconnection portion 6, and is formed to be long in a main scanning direction. Theconnector 31 is electrically connected to theFPC 5, and thus the thermal head X1 is electrically connected to the outside. - The heat
dissipating plate 1 is formed of, for example, a metal material such as copper, iron, or aluminum. Theheat dissipating plate 1 functions to dissipate part of the heat the heat evolved in theheat generating section 9 of thehead base body 3 which part is not conducive to printing. The heatdissipating plate 1 is formed in a rectangular shape in a plan view. Thehead base body 3 is bonded on the upper surface of theheat dissipating plate 1 by a double-sided tape, an adhesive, or the like (not illustrated). - The
head base body 3 is formed in a rectangular shape in a plan view. As illustrated inFIGS. 1A and 1B , thehead base body 3 includes asubstrate 7, theheat generating section 9, theprotective layer 25, thecover layer 27, a driving IC (Integrated Circuit) 11, thefirst cover member 12, and thesecond cover member 29. Each member constituting the thermal head X1 is disposed on thesubstrate 7. Thehead base body 3 has a function of performing printing on a recording medium (not illustrated) in accordance with an electric signal supplied from the outside. - The
protective layer 25 is formed to be long in the main scanning direction so as to cover theheat generating section 9. Thecover layer 27 is disposed on thesubstrate 7 to be long in the main scanning direction. The drivingIC 11 is disposed on thesubstrate 7 exposed from thecover layer 27. The plurality of drivingICs 11 are provided in the main scanning direction. Thesecond cover member 29 covers the plurality of drivingICs 11 collectively. Therefore, thesecond cover member 29 is formed to be long in the main scanning direction. - Hereinafter, the
head base body 3 and each member included in theFPC 5 will be described in detail with reference toFIGS. 2 and 3 . In the first embodiment, theFPC 5 will be described as the connection member. - The
substrate 7 is disposed on the heat dissipating plate and is formed in a rectangular shape in a plan view. Therefore, thesubstrate 7 includes a firstlong side 7 a, a secondlong side 7 b, a firstshort side 7 c, and a secondshort side 7 d. Thesubstrate 7 is formed of, for example, an electrically insulating material such as alumina ceramics or a semiconductor material such as a monocrystalline silicon. - The
thermal storage layer 13 is formed on the upper surface of thesubstrate 7. Thethermal storage layer 13 includes anunderlying portion 13 a and abulge portion 13 b. Theunderlying portion 13 a is formed across the left half of the upper surface of thesubstrate 7. Thebulge portion 13 b extends in a belt shape in the main scanning direction and has a cross section formed in a substantially semielliptical shape. Thebulge portion 13 b has a function of pressing a recording medium P (seeFIG. 5B ) to be printed satisfactorily against theprotective layer 25 disposed on theheat generating section 9. - The
thermal storage layer 13 is formed of glass with low thermal conductivity. Thethermal storage layer 13 temporarily stores part of the heat generated by theheat generating section 9. Thus, it is possible to shorten a time necessary to increase the temperature of theheat generating section 9. Therefore, it is possible to improve a thermal responsive property of the thermal head X1. - The
thermal storage layer 13 can be formed, for example, by applying a predetermined glass paste obtained by mixing an appropriate organic solvent with glass powder to the upper surface of thesubstrate 7 using heretofore known screen printing or otherwise, and firing the applied glass paste at high temperature. - An
electrical resistance layer 15 is disposed on the upper surface of thethermal storage layer 13.Terminals 2, acommon electrode 17,discrete electrodes 19, andconnection electrodes 21 are disposed on theelectrical resistance layer 15. Theelectrical resistance layer 15 is patterned with the same shape as theterminals 2, thecommon electrode 17, thediscrete electrodes 19, and theconnection electrodes 21. Theelectrical resistance layer 15 has exposed regions in which theelectrical resistance layer 15 is exposed from the various electrodes between thecommon electrode 17 and thediscrete electrodes 19. As illustrated inFIG. 2 , the exposed regions of theelectrical resistance layer 15 are arranged in line on thebulge portion 13 b of thethermal storage layer 13. Each exposed region of theelectrical resistance layer 15 forms theheat generating section 9. - The
electrical resistance layer 15 may not be patterned with the same shape as theterminals 2, thecommon electrode 17, thediscrete electrodes 19, and theconnection electrodes 21. For example, theelectrical resistance layer 15 may be disposed only between thecommon electrode 17 and thediscrete electrodes 19 to form theheat generating section 9. - The
heat generating section 9, while being illustrated in simplified form inFIGS. 1A and 1B for convenience in explanation, is arranged at a density of 100 dpi (dot per inch) to 2400 dpi, for example. - The
electrical resistance layer 15 is formed of a material having a relatively high electrical resistance value such for example as a TaN-based material, a TaSiO-based material, a TaSiNO-based material, a TiSiO-based material, a TiSiCO-based material, or a NbSiO-based material. Hence, upon application of a voltage to theheat generating section 9, theheat generating section 9 generates heat under Joule heating effect. - The
common electrode 17, thediscrete electrodes 19, and theconnection electrodes 21 are disposed on the upper surface of theelectrical resistance layer 15. Thecommon electrode 17, thediscrete electrodes 19, and theconnection electrodes 21 are formed of a material with conductivity. For example, these electrodes are formed of one of metal of aluminum, gold, silver, and copper or an alloy thereof. - The
common electrode 17 includesmain wiring portions 17 a,sub wiring portions 17 b, and leadportions 17 c. Themain wiring portion 17 a extends along a firstlong side 7 a of thesubstrate 7. Twosub wiring portions 17 b extend along a firstshort side 7 c and a secondshort side 7 d of thesubstrate 7. The plurality oflead portions 17 c individually extend from themain wiring portion 17 a to eachheat generating section 9. Thecommon electrode 17 includes theterminals 2 connected toexternal terminals 4 on the side of a secondlong side 7 b of thesubstrate 7. - The plurality of
discrete electrodes 19 electrically connect theheat generating sections 9 to the drivingICs 11. For thediscrete electrodes 19, the plurality ofheat generating sections 9 are divided into a plurality of groups, and thus theheat generating sections 9 of each group are electrically connected to the drivingIC 11 provided to correspond to each group. - A plurality of
connection electrodes 21 electrically connect the drivingICs 11 to theconnector 31. The plurality ofconnection electrodes 21 connected to each drivingIC 11 are constituted by a plurality of wirings with different functions. Theconnection electrode 21 includes theterminal 2 connected to theconnection portion 6 on the side of the secondlong side 7 b of thesubstrate 7. - The
terminal 2 is provided in thecommon electrode 17 and theconnection electrode 21 to connect thehead base body 3 to theFPC 5, and is disposed on the side of the secondlong side 7 b of thesubstrate 7. Theterminal 2 is formed by a part of thecommon electrode 17 and a part of theconnection electrode 21. - The
electrical resistance layer 15, thecommon electrode 17, thediscrete electrodes 19, and theconnection electrodes 21 can be formed in accordance with, for example, the following method. First, respective material layers are sequentially stacked on thethermal storage layer 13 by, for example, a heretofore known thin film forming technology such as a sputtering method. Subsequently, the material layers are formed by processing a stacked body in a predetermined pattern using a heretofore known photoetching or otherwise. Theelectrical resistance layer 15, thecommon electrode 17, thediscrete electrodes 19, and theconnection electrodes 21 can be simultaneously formed through the same processes. - The
protective layer 25 covering theheat generating sections 9, a part of thecommon electrode 17, and parts of thediscrete electrodes 19 is formed on thethermal storage layer 13 formed on the upper surface of thesubstrate 7. - The
protective layer 25 protects theheat generating section 9 and the covered areas of thecommon electrode 17 and thediscrete electrode 19 against corrosion caused by adhesion of atmospheric water content, etc., or against wear caused by contact with a recording medium under printing. Theprotective layer 25 may be formed of an inorganic material such as SiN, SiO2, SiON, SiC, or diamond-like carbon. Theprotective layer 25 may be formed of a single layer or may be formed by stacking such layers. Theprotective layer 25 may be produced by thin-film forming technique such as sputtering, or thick-film forming technique such as screen printing. - On the
substrate 7, there is provided acover layer 27 which partly covers thecommon electrode 17, thediscrete electrode 19, and theconnection electrode 21. Thecover layer 27 protects the covered areas of thecommon electrode 17, thediscrete electrode 19, the IC-IC connection electrode 26, and theconnection electrode 21 against oxidation caused by exposure to air. Thecover layer 27 serves to protect the various electrodes against corrosion caused due to adherence of moisture contained in the air. - The driving
ICs 11 are disposed to correspond to each group of the plurality ofheat generating sections 9. The drivingICs 11 connect thediscrete electrodes 19 to theconnection electrodes 21. The plurality of drivingICs 11 are provided at predetermined intervals in the main scanning direction. The predetermined intervals are, for example, about 1 mm to 20 mm. - The driving
IC 11 has a function of controlling a conductive state of eachheat generating section 9. As the drivingIC 11, for example, a switching member containing a plurality of switching elements is used. The drivingICs 11 are sealed by thesecond cover member 29. - The
second cover member 29 is formed astride the plurality of drivingICs 11 to extend in the main scanning direction. Thesecond cover member 29 covers the drivingICs 11 so that the drivingICs 11 are not exposed. Thesecond cover member 29 also covers connection regions of the drivingICs 11 and the wirings. - The
second cover member 29 can be formed of, for example, a thermosetting resin such as an epoxy resin or a silicone resin. Thesecond cover member 29 can be formed using an ultraviolet-curable resin, a visible light-curable resin, or the like. - The
FPC 5 includes abase member 5 a, a plurality ofwiring conductors 5 b, and acover member 5 c. Thebase member 5 a is formed in a rectangular shape in a plan view, and thus has the external shape as theFPC 5. The plurality ofwiring conductors 5 b are disposed on thebase member 5 a and are provided at predetermined intervals in the main scanning direction. Anexternal terminal 4 electrically connected to theterminal 2 is disposed at an end of each of the plurality ofwiring conductors 5 b. Therefore, the plurality ofexternal terminals 4 are provided apart from each other at the predetermined intervals in the main scanning direction. Thecover member 5 c is formed on thebase member 5 a to cover thewiring conductors 5 b. Thecover member 5 c is partially notched so that theexternal terminals 4 are exposed. Thewiring conductors 5 b and theexternal terminals 4 may be formed of the same material to be integrated. In this case, portions of thewiring conductors 5 b exposed from thecover member 5 c serve as theexternal terminals 4. - The
connector 31 is electrically connected to thewiring conductors 5 b, sockets are inserted into the housing of theconnector 31 from the outside, and the thermal head X1 is electrically connected to the outside. - As illustrated in
FIG. 3 , aconductive member 23 is disposed between the terminal 2 and theexternal terminal 4. Theconductive member 23 electrically connects theterminal 2 to theexternal terminal 4. Examples of theconductive member 23 include, for example, solder or an anisotropic conducting adhesive. In the embodiment, the case where solder is used is described. A plated layer (not illustrated) formed of Ni, Au, or Pd may be disposed between theconductive member 23 and theterminal 2. - The
connection portion 6 is a portion which electrically connects thehead base body 3 to the FPC 5 (connection member). Therefore, in the first embodiment, theconnection portion 6 means theconductive member 23. - The plurality of
external terminals 4 are provided at predetermined intervals in the main scanning direction. Therefore, the plurality ofconnection portions 6 are also provided at the predetermined intervals in the main scanning direction. In theFPC 5, a region in which theconnection portions 6 are arranged is referred to as a connection region (not illustrated) below. In other words, the connection region is a region between theexternal terminal 4 located on the farthest side of the firstshort side 7 c of thesubstrate 7 and theexternal terminal 4 located on the farthest side of the secondshort side 7 d of thesubstrate 7 in a plan view. - The
first cover member 12 serves to protect the connection region. Therefore, thefirst cover member 12 is disposed on thehead base body 3 and theFPC 5 to extend in the main scanning direction. That is, thefirst cover member 12 extends from the connection region of theFPC 5 to thehead base body 3 adjacent to the connection region in a sub-scanning direction. - The
first cover member 12 can be formed of a thermosetting resin such as an epoxy resin or a silicone resin as in thesecond cover member 29. Thefirst cover member 12 can be formed of an ultraviolet-curable resin, a visible light-curable resin, or the like. - The
first cover member 12 and theFPC 5 will be described in detail with reference toFIG. 4 . InFIG. 4 , the recording medium P being conveyed is schematically indicated by a black line. - The
first cover member 12 includes a plurality of protrudingportions 12 a provided at predetermined intervals in the main scanning direction. Thefirst cover member 12 includes a plurality of recessedportions 12 b provided at predetermined intervals in the main scanning direction. The plurality of protrudingportions 12 a and the plurality of recessedportions 12 b are provided on the upper surface of thefirst cover member 12. The plurality of protrudingportions 12 a and the plurality of recessedportions 12 b are alternately formed. The plurality of protrudingportions 12 a and the plurality of recessedportions 12 b are provided above the connection region. - An interval between the adjacent protruding
portions 12 a is, for example, 50 to 200 μm. An interval between the adjacent recessedportions 12 b is, for example, 50 to 200 μm. The interval between the adjacent protrudingportions 12 a indicates a distance between portions located highest among the protrudingportions 12 a in the main scanning direction. The same applies to the interval between the adjacent recessedportions 12 b. - A difference between the heights of the protruding
portions 12 a and the recessedportions 12 b can be set to, for example, 20 to 40 μm. The difference between the heights of the protrudingportions 12 a and the recessedportions 12 b can be measured by observing a surface state of thefirst cover member 12 with, for example, a contactless laser microscope. - The
first cover member 12 is configured to be contactable with the recording medium P. In other words, thefirst cover member 12 may come into contact with the recording medium P depending on a conveyance situation of the recording medium P in some cases. - The
base member 5 a of theFPC 5 includes afirst surface 5 c located on the substrate side and a second surface 5 d located opposite to thefirst surface 5 c. On thefirst surface 5 c, thewiring conductors 5 b is formed, and theexternal terminals 4 are provided. Thebase member 5 a includes adepression portion 14 in a region in which theexternal terminal 4 is not provided. - The
depression portion 14 is depressed from afirst surface 5 c toward a second surface 5 d in a region in which theexternal terminal 4 is provided. Thedepression portion 14 is formed in the region of thefirst surface 5 c in which theexternal terminal 4 is not provided. In other words, thedepression portion 14 is formed between theexternal terminals 4. Therefore, the plurality ofdepression portions 14 are provided at predetermined intervals in the main scanning direction. - The second surface 5 d corresponding to the
depression portion 14 protrudes upwardly. The plurality ofdepression portions 14 are provided at the predetermined intervals in the main scanning direction, and thus the second surface 5 d includes protruding portions provided at the predetermined intervals in the main scanning direction. - A depth of the
depression portion 14 from thefirst surface 5 c of the region in which theexternal terminal 4 is provided (a length in a thickness direction of the substrate 7) can be set to be, for example, 20 to 40 μm. The depth of thedepression portion 14 from thefirst surface 5 c of the region in which theexternal terminal 4 is provided can be obtained, for example, by cutting the thermal head X1 in the vertical direction as inFIG. 4 and observing the cross-sectional surface of theFPC 5. - Here, when a recording medium comes into contact with the first cover member including no protruding portion, the upper surface of the first cover member is flat, and thus the recording medium comes into surface contact with the first cover member. Thus, friction between the recording medium and the first cover member may increase, the recording medium is caught, and thus there is a concern that the recording medium is wrinkled.
- On the other hand, the
first cover member 12 includes the plurality of protrudingportions 12 a provided on the upper surface at the predetermined intervals in the main scanning direction. Therefore, even when thefirst cover member 12 comes into contact with the recording medium P, the recording medium P comes into contact with the protrudingportions 12 a, but is less likely to come into contact with the recessedportions 12 b between the protrudingportions 12 a. Thus, the recording medium P comes into point contact with thefirst cover member 12. Therefore, the friction between the recording medium P and thefirst cover member 12 does not increase and the recording medium P is less likely to be caught. As a result, the recording medium is less likely to be wrinkled. - In particular, the case of the thermal head X1 in which a glossy sheet is used as the recording medium P is useful because of the following reasons. A glossy sheet has strong resilience as the recording medium P and the recording medium P is further less likely to come into contact the recessed
portions 12 b. As a result, the recording medium P comes into point contact with thefirst cover member 12, and thus it is possible to reduce a possibility that the recording medium P is wrinkled and paper jamming occurs. - The
first cover member 12 can be formed of an epoxy-based resin. Thus, static electricity charged to the recording medium P is discharged to, for example, theheat dissipating plate 1 through thefirst cover member 12. Thus, the static electricity is less likely to be discharged to theheat generating section 9. As a result, the thermal head X1 is less likely to be damaged. - The protruding
portions 12 a are provided on a part of the upper surface of thefirst cover member 12 which part is located above the connection region. Thus, it is possible to reduce noise caused due to an electric signal flowing in theconnection portion 6. - That is, since the protruding
portions 12 a are provided on the upper surface of thefirst cover member 12, the surface area of the upper surface can be set to be greater than the surface area of the flat upper surface. Thus, it is likely to radiate the noise from the upper surface of thefirst cover member 12, and thus it is possible to reduce an influence of the noise of theconnection portion 6. - The
second cover member 29 is provided between theheat generating section 9 and thefirst cover member 12 in a plan view. In other words, thefirst cover member 12, thesecond cover member 29, and theheat generating section 9 are disposed in this order when viewed in a conveying direction of the recording medium P. - Therefore, the recording medium P comes into contact with the protruding
portions 12 a of thefirst cover member 12 and subsequently comes into contact with thesecond cover member 29 after electricity is removed. As a result, static electricity is discharged to thesecond cover member 29, and thus the drivingIC 11 is less likely to be damaged. - The protruding
portions 12 a are disposed at positions corresponding to thedepression portions 14 of the second surface 5 d. Therefore, even when the recording medium P is excessively pressed against a platen roller 50 (seeFIG. 5A ), thedepression portions 14 can be deformed and the protrudingportions 12 a can be displaced downwards. Therefore, thedepression portions 14 can alleviate stress concentrated on the protrudingportions 12 a. As a result, damage such as crack is less likely to occur in thefirst cover member 12. - Here, the recording medium P can be conveyed by various rollers, as illustrated in
FIG. 5A . Therefore, there is a concern that the recording medium P is at a high temperature due to friction heat generated between the recording medium P and the various rollers. - On the other hand, in the thermal head X1, space is provided between the
depression portion 14 and thesubstrate 7. Thus, a heat insulating layer is formed between the protrudingportions 12 a and thesubstrate 7 and between thedepression portions 14 and thesubstrate 7, and the heat of the recording medium P is less likely to be transferred to thesubstrate 7. - The
first cover member 12 includes the recessedportions 12 b between the protrudingportions 12 a, and the recessedportions 12 b are disposed on theterminal 2. In other words, the protrudingportion 12 a coming into contact with the recording medium P is not disposed on theterminal 2. Therefore, even when static electricity charged to the recording medium P is discharged to thefirst cover member 12, the static electricity is discharged to the protrudingportion 12 a located closely. Therefore, it is possible to reduce a possibility of the static electricity discharged to theterminal 2. As a result, theterminal 2 is less likely to be destroyed by the static electricity. - The thermal head X1 can be manufactured according to the following method, for example.
- First, the
external terminals 4 of theFPC 5 are electrically connected to theterminals 2 of thehead base body 3 via theconductive members 23. Subsequently, theconductive members 23 are reflowed to electrically connect theterminals 2 of thehead base body 3 to theexternal terminals 4 of theFPC 5. - Subsequently, the
first cover member 12 is applied with a constant thickness using a dispenser or the like so that theconnection portions 6 are sealed, and is cured. Continuously, thefirst cover member 12 is applied again by the dispenser in portions in which the protrudingportions 12 a are formed, and is dried. Thus, the protrudingportions 12 a can be formed on the upper surface of thefirst cover member 12. - After the
first cover member 12 is applied with a constant thickness using the dispenser or the like so that theconnection portions 6 are sealed, a pressing plate with an uneven surface may be pressed against an applied surface to form the protrudingportions 12 a. - An example in which the protruding
portions 12 a and the recessedportions 12 b are provided in the connection region has been described, but the invention is not limited to this. The protrudingportions 12 a and the recessedportions 12 b may be formed on an upper surface of thefirst cover member 12 other than the connection region. - A configuration in which the
base member 5 a includes thedepression portions 14 has been described, but thedepression portions 14 may not be provided. - Next, a thermal printer Z1 will be described with reference to
FIGS. 5A and 5B . - As illustrated in
FIG. 5A , the thermal printer Z1 according to the embodiment includes the above-described thermal head X1, aconveyance mechanism 40, aplaten roller 50, apower supply device 60, and a control unit 70. The thermal head X1 is mounted on a mountingsurface 80 a of a mountingmember 80 provided in a housing (not illustrated) of the thermal printer Z1. The thermal head X1 is mounted in the mountingmember 80 so that the arrangement direction of theheat generating sections 9 follows the main scanning direction which is a direction perpendicular to a conveying direction S of the recording medium P to be described below. - The
conveyance mechanism 40 comprises a driving section (not shown) and conveyingrollers conveyance mechanism 40 serves to convey the recording medium P such as thermal paper or ink-transferable image-receiving paper, in a direction indicated by the arrow S shown inFIGS. 5A and 5B so as to move the recording medium P onto theprotective layer 25 located on the plurality ofheat generating sections 9 of the thermal head X1. The driving section functions to drive the conveyingrollers roller cylindrical shaft body elastic member heat generating section 9 of the thermal head X1. - The
platen roller 50 functions to press the recording medium P against the top of theprotective layer 25 located on theheat generating section 9 of the thermal head X1. Theplaten roller 50 is disposed so as to extend along a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction S of the recording medium P, and is fixedly supported at ends thereof so as to be rotatable while pressing the recording medium P against the top of theheat generating section 9. For example, theplaten roller 50 may be composed of acylindrical shaft body 50 a formed of metal such as stainless steel covered with anelastic member 50 b formed of butadiene rubber, for example. - The
power supply device 60 functions to supply electric current for enabling theheat generating section 9 of the thermal head X1 to generate heat as described above, as well as electric current for operating the drivingIC 11. The control unit 70 functions to feed a control signal for controlling the operation of the drivingIC 11 to the drivingIC 11 in order to cause theheat generating sections 9 of the thermal head X1 to selectively generate heat as described above. - As illustrated in
FIG. 5B , in the thermal printer Z1, thesecond cover member 29 is disposed upstream in the conveying direction S from thefirst cover member 12. For the recording medium P, predetermined printing is performed on the recording medium P when thepower supply device 60 and the control device 70 causes theheat generating sections 9 to selectively generate heat while causing theplaten roller 50 to press the recording medium P against a top of theheat generating sections 9 of the thermal head X1 and causing theconveyance mechanism 40 to convey the recording medium P onto theheat generating sections 9 so that the recording medium P sequentially comes into contact with thefirst cover member 12 and thesecond cover member 29. When the recording medium P is an image-receiving sheet, the printing is performed on the recording medium P by thermally transferring ink of an ink film (not illustrated) conveyed along with the recording medium P to the recording medium P. - A thermal head X2 will be described with reference to
FIGS. 6A to 8 . The same reference numerals are given to the same members as those of the first embodiment. InFIGS. 6A and 6B , theheat generating section 9, connector pins 8, andwires 16 are indicated by thick lines. - The thermal head X2 includes a
heat dissipating plate 1, ahead base body 203, awiring substrate 18, aconnector 231 which is a connection member, and afirst cover member 212. Thehead base body 203 and thewiring substrate 18 are placed on theheat dissipating plate 1. Theconnector 231 is electrically connected to thewiring substrate 18. In a second embodiment, theconnector 231 will be described as the connection member. - The plurality of driving
ICs 11 are disposed on thewiring substrate 18 and thewires 16 disposed on the upper surface of the drivingICs 11 electrically connect thehead base body 203 to thewiring substrate 18. Asecond cover member 229 is configured to cover the plurality of drivingICs 11. Thesecond cover member 229 is formed to be long in the main scanning direction. - The
connector 231 includes the connector pins 8 and ahousing 10. The connector pins 8 are electrically connected to thewiring substrate 18. Thehousing 10 accommodates the connector pins 8. The sockets are inserted into thehousing 10 from the outside so that thehead base body 203 is electrically connected to the outside. - The
first cover member 212 is provided on thewiring substrate 18 and thehousing 10 so as to cover aconnection portions 206. - The
wiring substrate 18, theconnector 231, and thefirst cover member 212 will be described in detail with reference toFIGS. 7 and 8 . - The
wiring substrate 18 is placed on the upper surface of theheat dissipating plate 1 to be adjacent to thehead base body 203. Thewiring substrate 18 includes abase member 18 a and awiring conductor 18 b. The drivingICs 11 and thewires 16 are disposed on thewiring substrate 18. - The
base member 18 a is formed in a rectangular shape in a plan view and has substantially the same shape as thewiring substrate 18. Thewiring conductor 18 b is provided in thebase member 18 a and is patterned in a planar direction, although not illustrated. Thewiring conductor 18 b includes theterminal 2 electrically connected to aconnection portion 206 on the side of theconnector 231. Theterminals 2 are provided at predetermined intervals in the main scanning direction. - The driving
IC 11 is placed in a region in which thewiring conductor 18 b is not provided on thebase member 18 a. One pair ofwires 16 is extracted from the upper surface of the drivingIC 11, and includes afirst wire 16 and asecond wire 16. Thefirst wire 16 is electrically connected to theconnection electrode 21 of thehead base body 3. Thesecond wire 16 is electrically connected to thewiring conductor 18 b of thewiring substrate 18. - In the
connector 231, thehousing 10 is disposed at intervals from the side surface of thewiring substrate 18. Each of the plurality ofconnector pins 8 includes afirst end 8 a and asecond end 8 b. Thefirst end 8 a is exposed to the outside of thehousing 10 and is electrically connected to theterminal 2. That is, thefirst end 8 a functions as theexternal terminal 4 of the connector (connection member) 231. Thesecond end 8 b is accommodated inside thehousing 10. The connector pins 8 have electrical conductivity and can be formed of metal or an alloy. Thehousing 10 can be formed of an insulating member. - The
first end 8 a is electrically connected to theterminal 2 of thewiring substrate 18 via theconductive member 23. Therefore, in the second embodiment, theconnection portion 206 is constituted by theconductive member 23. - The
first cover member 212 is provided to protect the connection region and is provided to cover theterminals 2, theconductive members 23, and the first ends 8 a. In the present embodiment, thefirst cover member 212 is provided over the entire region of theterminals 2, theconductive members 23, and the first ends 8 a. Therefore, thefirst cover member 212 seals theterminals 2, theconductive members 23, and the first ends 8 a. A part of thefirst cover member 212 is disposed on thehousing 10 of thesecond cover member 29. - As illustrated in
FIG. 8 , thefirst cover member 212 includes a plurality of protrudingportions 212 a provided at predetermined intervals in the main scanning direction. Thefirst cover member 212 includes a plurality of recessedportions 212 b provided at predetermined intervals in the main scanning direction. The plurality of protrudingportions 212 a and the plurality of recessedportions 212 b are provided on the upper surface of thefirst cover member 212. The plurality of protrudingportions 212 a and the plurality of recessedportions 212 b are alternately provided in the main scanning direction. The plurality of protrudingportions 212 a and the plurality of recessedportions 212 b are formed above the connection region. - An interval between the mutually adjacent protruding
portions 212 a is, for example, 1 to 5 mm. An interval between the adjacent recessedportions 212 b is, for example, 1 to 5 mm. - A difference between the heights of the protruding
portions 212 a and the recessedportions 212 b can be set to, for example, 50 to 200 μm. The difference between the heights of the protrudingportions 212 a and the recessedportions 212 b can be measured by observing a surface state of thefirst cover member 212 with, for example, a contactless laser microscope. - The
first cover member 212 is configured to be contactable with the recording medium P. That is, the recording medium P comes into contact with thefirst cover member 212, and subsequently comes into contact with the protective film 25 (seeFIG. 3 ) on theheat generating sections 9 so that printing is performed. - The
first cover member 212 includes the protrudingportions 212 a provided at the predetermined intervals in the main scanning direction on the upper surface. Thus, the recording medium P comes into contact with the protrudingportions 212 a and is less likely to come into contact with the recessedportions 212 b located between the protrudingportions 212 a. Therefore, the recording medium P comes into point contact with thefirst cover member 212. Therefore, the friction between the recording medium P and thefirst cover member 212 does not increase and the recording medium P is less likely to be caught. As a result, the recording medium is less likely to be wrinkled. - The plurality of protruding
portions 212 a are provided at positions corresponding to the plurality ofconnector pins 8, respectively. Thus, the protrudingportions 212 a of thefirst cover member 212 can be supported by the connector pins 8, and thefirst cover member 212 can stably convey the recording medium P. - The
first cover member 212 is disposed to surround theconnection portions 206. Thus, mechanical connection of theconnection portions 206 can be stabilized. As a result, it is possible to improve electric connection reliability of theconnection portions 206. - A thermal head X3 will be described with reference to
FIG. 9 . The thermal head X3 is different from the thermal head X1 in the configuration of afirst cover member 312. The other configuration is the same as the thermal head X1 and the description thereof will be omitted. - The
first cover member 312 includes a plurality of protrudingportions 312 a, a plurality of recessedportions 312 b, and aninfiltration portion 312 c. The plurality of protrudingportions 312 a and the plurality of recessedportions 312 b are provided on the upper surface of thefirst cover member 312. Theinfiltration portion 312 c is disposed in a portion of thefirst cover member 312 located between theFPC 5 and thesubstrate 7. Theinfiltration portion 312 c is filled between theFPC 5 and thesubstrate 7. - The
infiltration portion 312 c penetrates between theFPC 5 and thesubstrate 7, and thus an end of theFPC 5 located on thesubstrate 7 is sandwiched by thefirst cover member 312. In other words, thefirst cover member 312 is disposed over the entire region around the end of theFPC 5 located on thesubstrate 7. As a result, the end of theFPC 5 located on thesubstrate 7 is less likely to be separated. Therefore, theFPC 5 is less likely to be separated from thehead base body 3. - Further, since the
infiltration portion 312 c is filled between theFPC 5 and thesubstrate 7, thefirst cover member 312 is disposed around theconductive members 23. Therefore, theinfiltration portion 312 c can protect theconductive members 23. As a result, the electric connection between thehead base body 3 and theFPC 5 can be stabilized. - A thermal head X4 will be described with reference to
FIG. 10 . The thermal head X4 is different from the thermal head X3 in the configuration of afirst cover member 412. The other configuration is the same as the thermal head X3 and the description thereof will be omitted. - The
first cover member 412 includes a protrudingportion 412 a, a recessedportion 412 b, and aninfiltration portion 412 c. Theinfiltration portion 412 c is provided on the side of theFPC 5 without being filled between theFPC 5 and thesubstrate 7. In other words, a space is provided between theinfiltration portion 412 c and thesubstrate 7. Therefore, a part of theconductive member 23 is provided to be exposed from theinfiltration portion 412 c. Then, theconductive member 23 is formed by solder. - Here, when the large quantity of
infiltration portion 412 c penetrates between theFPC 5 and thesubstrate 7, theconductive member 23 is pressed by theinfiltration portion 412 c, and thus there is a concern of contact with the nearby locatedconductive member 23. That is, there is a concern of short-circuiting. - On the other hand, in the thermal head X4, an inflow amount of the
infiltration portion 412 c can be reduced and a pressing force applied from theinfiltration portion 412 c can be reduced. As a result, theconductive member 23 is less likely to come into contact with the adjacentconductive member 23, and thus short-circuiting is less likely to occur in the thermal head X4. - Further, the
infiltration portion 412 c includes a portion located between theconnection portions 6. Then, in theinfiltration portion 412 c, a surface of the portion located between theconnection portions 6 on the side of thesubstrate 7 protrudes upwardly. More specifically, the surface of theinfiltration portion 412 c located between theconductive members 23 on the side of thesubstrate 7 has an upward protruding shape in a sectional view. Therefore, theinfiltration portion 412 c is easily deformed by a pressing force from above. Therefore, theinfiltration portion 412 c can disperse the pressing force from above. - In particular, when the
infiltration portion 412 c is located below the protrudingportion 412 a, theinfiltration portion 412 c can further disperse the pressing force from above. That is, the protrudingportions 412 a are configured to come into contact with the recording medium P, and thus a pressing force is applied to the protrudingportions 412 a downwards. On the other hand, theinfiltration portion 412 c serves to disperse the pressing force, and thefirst cover member 412 is less likely to be damaged by the pressing force. - While one embodiment according to the disclosure has been described heretofore, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and that various modifications and variations are possible without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, although the thermal printer Z1 employing the thermal head X1 according to the first embodiment has been shown herein, it is not intended to be limiting of the invention, and thus, any of the thermal heads X2 to X4 may be adopted for use in the thermal printer Z1. Moreover, the thermal heads X1 to X4 according to a plurality of embodiments may be used in combination.
- In the thermal head X1, the
bulge portion 13 b is formed in thethermal storage layer 13 and theelectrical resistance layer 15 is formed on thebulge portion 13 b, but the invention is not limited to this. For example, thebulge portion 13 b may not be formed in thethermal storage layer 13 and theheat generating section 9 of theelectrical resistance layer 15 may be disposed on theunderlying portion 13 a of thethermal storage layer 13. Thethermal storage layer 13 may be provided across the upper surface of thesubstrate 7. - In the thermal head X1, the
common electrode 17 and thediscrete electrode 19 are formed on theelectrical resistance layer 15, but the invention is not limited to this as long as both thecommon electrode 17 and thediscrete electrode 19 are connected to the heat generating section 9 (electric resistor). For example, theheat generating section 9 may be constituted by forming thecommon electrode 17 and thediscrete electrode 19 on thethermal storage layer 13 and forming theelectrical resistance layer 15 only in a region between thecommon electrode 17 and thediscrete electrode 19. - Furthermore, although the thin-film head having the thin
heat generating section 9 obtained by forming theelectrical resistance layer 15 in thin-film form has been described as exemplification, the invention is not limited to this. For example, the invention may be embodied as a thick-film head having a thickheat generating section 9 by patterning various electrodes and subsequently forming theelectrical resistance layer 15 in thick-film form. Further, the present technology may be embodied as an edge-type head in which theheat generating section 9 is disposed on an end face of the substrate. -
- X1-X4: Thermal head
- Z1: Thermal printer
- 1: Heat dissipating plate
- 2: Terminal
- 3: Head base body
- 4: External terminal
- 5: Flexible printed circuit (connection member)
- 5 a: Base member
- 5 b: Wiring conductor
- 5 c: Cover member
- 6, 206: Connection portion
- 7: Substrate
- 8: Connector pin
- 8 a: First end
- 8 b: Second end
- 9: Heat generating section
- 10: Housing
- 11: Driving IC
- 12, 212, 312, 412: First cover member
- 12 a, 212 a, 312 a, 412 a: Protruding portion
- 12 b, 212 b, 312 b, 412 b: Recessed portion
- 312 c, 412 c: Infiltration portion
- 14: Depression portion
- 16: Wire
- 18: Wiring substrate
- 18 a: Base member
- 18 b: Wiring conductor
- 23: Conductive member
- 29, 229: Second cover member
- 31, 231: Connector (connection member)
Claims (12)
Applications Claiming Priority (5)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
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JP2015-189895 | 2015-09-28 | ||
JP2015189895 | 2015-09-28 | ||
JP2016034515 | 2016-02-25 | ||
JP2016-034515 | 2016-02-25 | ||
PCT/JP2016/078460 WO2017057364A1 (en) | 2015-09-28 | 2016-09-27 | Thermal head and thermal printer |
Publications (2)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
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US20180281452A1 true US20180281452A1 (en) | 2018-10-04 |
US10596826B2 US10596826B2 (en) | 2020-03-24 |
Family
ID=58423865
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
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US15/763,367 Active US10596826B2 (en) | 2015-09-28 | 2016-09-27 | Thermal head and thermal printer |
Country Status (3)
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US (1) | US10596826B2 (en) |
CN (1) | CN108025558B (en) |
WO (1) | WO2017057364A1 (en) |
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US20230130610A1 (en) * | 2020-03-31 | 2023-04-27 | Kyocera Corporation | Thermal head and thermal printer |
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JPS60150046U (en) * | 1984-03-19 | 1985-10-05 | 沖電気工業株式会社 | thermal head |
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Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
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CN108025558A (en) | 2018-05-11 |
US10596826B2 (en) | 2020-03-24 |
WO2017057364A1 (en) | 2017-04-06 |
CN108025558B (en) | 2019-11-26 |
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